Songbird Management

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Songbird Management
WMAN 493I February 21, 2007
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Why Manage for Songbirds?

• Continental Declines
• Greatest Declines in Prairie Regions
• Regional Declines
• 70 of those declining are grassland species
• 41 species are increasing

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Causes of Songbird Decline

• Potential Causes
• Habitat Loss, Degradation, or Fragmentation
• Breeding Grounds
• Migratory Routes
• Wintering Grounds
• Reproductive Issues

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Habitat Loss

• Conversion of early-successional landscape to
  mature forest
• Urban and Recreational Development
• Mining
• Forest Health Management
• Invasive Plant Species
• Habitat loss in wintering grounds

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Habitat Fragmentation

• Creates edge effects
• Increases susceptibility to Opportunists
• Limits opportunities Area-sensitive species

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Reproductive Issues

• Brood Parasitism
• Nest Predation
• Hybridization

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Habitat Suites

• Often conflicting priorities between Early and
  Late-successional habitats and species
• What is the true baseline for historical presence
  and importance
• Management different in each suite

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Mature Deciduous Forest
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Habitat Use

• Species use different components of a forest
  landscape
• Successional Stage (mid-late)
• Elevation
• Canopy
• Shrub
• Ground
• Snags

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Species of Interest/Concern

• Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)
• Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
• Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus)
• Worm-Eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum)

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Cerulean Warbler

• Declining over breeding range
• Habitat Requirements
• Tall complex canopy
• Large tracts of land

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Songbird Management in Deciduous Forests

• Should address microhabitat needs
• Maintain a balance of forest-age structures
• Ensure long-term tree-species composition
• Maintain structural diversity
• Minimize levels of fragmentation

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Riparian/Bottomland Forest
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Species of Interest/Concern

• Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)
• Louisiana Waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla)
• Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens)

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Louisiana Waterthrush

• Prefers large tracts (gt100 ha)
• Requires clean, rapidly flowing water
• Rare in fragmented areas or those with poor water
  quality

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Songbird Management in Riparian Forests

• Minimize timber activity near forested riparian
  areas
• Maintain wide riparian forest corridors
  (preferably 100 meters)

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Shrub - Early Successional
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Species of Interest/Concern

• Appalachian Bewicks Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
• Golden-Winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera

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Golden-Winged Warbler

• Declining 10.8/yr
• Prefers dense patches of herbs/shrubs with few
  trees
• Favor mid-size (10-15 ha) patches
• Susceptible to hybridization nest
  parasitism/predation

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Songbird Management in Early-Successional
Landscapes

• Primary Goal Maintain areas in
  early-successional stage
• Possible cooperators
• Power Companies
• Mining Companies
• Promote value of shrub/scrub habitat to the public

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Grasslands
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Species of Interest/Concern

• Henslows Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii)
• Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
• Dickcissel (Spiza americana)

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Henslows Sparrow

• Continentally Very Rare
• Regionally Strong
• Prefers tall unmowed hayfields reclaimed
  surface mines

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Songbird Management in Grasslands

• Enhance existing agricultural and reclaimed mine
  sites
• Consolidation of adjacent fields
• Prescribed fire to control woody growth
• Mowing

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Songbird Management Monitoring Programs

• Partners in Flight (PIF)
• North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS)
• Audubon Christmas Bird Count
• WatchList
• Project Feeder Watch